5.27.2011

My Apologia for Blogging

﻿ The blogging community is so vibrant, encouraging, and inspiring that it is hard for me to remember that it was birthed in my lifetime. Blogging has been around for only seventeen years (when it began, my four year old self was content with publishing my stories by selling them to family members for a nickel apiece!), and the term “weblog” only entered my realm of knowledge perhaps five years ago. (“Oh—weblog, blog, web-log, blog! How cute!”) And there are still numerous people I know who have no idea what a blog is.

Therein lies the subject of my recent contemplation: If blogging is only seventeen years old, who is to say that in another seventeen years, this wave will not pass? Who is to say that blogging is not just a fad, a trend that will soon disappear just like many other trends over the years? In fact, no one can say that, and so I recently began contemplating if my purpose for blogging was deep enough that, in the unlikely chance that blogging might disappear completely in twenty years, I would have no regrets on the hundreds of hours I have put into pounding out words for my blog. If tomorrow suddenly no one read my blog anymore and I only received comments from spammers, would I regret ever entering blogland? No. No regrets because I do not blog for any purpose that would be altered by the passing of a trend.

Instead:

I blog to leave a record for future generations.

The other day, Mikaela thought out loud, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could read the blog of a girl living in Washington from fifty years ago?” Granted, there are journals, but blogging is just another form of leaving a record for my descendants. No historian will be able to revise my history: from this blog I want to make it clear that I love the Lord with all of my heart!

What a blessing for my children and children’s children to be able to visit my blogs that I have written as a young adult and read of what God did in my life, how I dealt with my problems, and what I thought of the changes swirling around me. At the same time, what a solemn challenge to me that everything I write on this blog has the potential to linger in the corners of the internet for decades to come!

I blog because fellowship with fellow Christian warriors is crucial.

So many of you have encouraged and convicted me through your challenging comments and posts! Shaking hands with those next to me in the battle and meeting my fellow warriors as we charge the enemy together is a blessing too rich to describe, and a blessing that carries value beyond this present moment. Scripture speaks of this blessing as well:

“As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)”

Feelings of isolation and loneliness in today’s pagan world are common, but not necessary. I live in one of the most liberal and spiritually dark states in America, but when my eye ranges over the Christians I am lined up next to in battle, discouragement and isolation are far from my mind. I blog to declare God’s greatness as far as my voice will carry and to encourage you to arm yourselves for the battle. But in doing so, God has used many of you to sharpen me as well.

I blog because writing always has been and always will be vital for winning the culture war.

Voltaire knew this when he said, “To hold a pen is to be at war.” And Rudyard Kipling said, “Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind.” Good writing can change the world, and when I nurture this skill I am no longer a twenty year old girl opining on my day for all to read. Instead, I am a warrior for Christ, sharpening my sword for the battle and perfecting my skills of war.

Bill Stout said, “Whether or not you write well, write bravely.” To write bravely is my goal, and I refuse to surrender the battle of the word to the humanists and atheists of my day. The godless are stealthily gaining in muscle and skill and sheer numbers, and if I have the opportunity to write and stand against them, I will do so. It does not matter if blogging drifts away on the tide and disappears altogether, because I pray that my words that I have written will remain an obstacle to Satan’s forces. It does not matter if my blog disappears altogether someday, because I pray that God will use the words I write today to bear eternal fruit.

I blog to wield a sword, and even if the day should come when One Bright Corner no longer exists, I will always write, be it on paper or keyboard, and by God's grace I will write bravely.

Technical Note:
If you have been having trouble commenting on posts this week, as I have been, my brilliant sister Mikaela has solved the problem! Read on if you care to...
If you are running Internet Explorer, click on "Tools" then "Internet Options." From there, click the "privacy" tab, and then "sites." Type in http://www.blogger.com/ and click "allow" and then do the same with http://www.blogspot.com/ This allows cookies on these sites. I love all your comments and have experienced frustration of my own in attempting to comment on others' blogs this week, so hopefully this may help a few people!

3 comments:

Ditto to everything you said...though, honestly, I think the "future generations" is my biggest thrill. How I wish my mom & grandma had had blogs at my age (or, journals would work too - either one!) :)How cool would that have been?Wonderful post!